Long Lake Sparkles!
Summer is here! The days have been HOT and the lake water is a perfect temperature for swimming. The sparkling water is magical! Due to Covid 19, lots of people are out on the trails hiking, mountain biking, and picnicking. I've seen more people in the Lakes Basin this summer than ever before! Some people are wearing masks, and everyone is practicing social distancing. I'm happy to see people out enjoying nature. You have to see it to appreciate it, so hopefully these summer visitors will connect with the Lakes Basin and value its preservation. Wilderness is essential!
Spinytail Fairy-shrimp - Streptocephalus sealii
Vernal Pools & Ponds
My friend BJ told me that she'd seen some Fairy Shrimp in a vernal pool in the Lakes Basin last week. So, the next day I hiked up to the pool and there they were! There were lots of them in a very shallow, small, murky, shrinking vernal pool! Wow!!! I first encountered these fascinating crustaceans last summer in Veronica Lake. These seemed a little more intense in color than the ones I saw last year! You can distinguish the males from the females by the complex claspers that the males have. These claspers look like a big snout, and are only visible from the side (see above photo). The males use them to hold onto the females during mating.
Fairy Shrimp measure 3/4" to 1 1/2" in length, and have 11 pairs of leaf-like legs that ripple as they paddle around on their backs! These legs also serve as their gills, and absorb oxygen out of the water. They have one pair of stalked eyes, and 2 pairs of antennae! They are filter feeders of tiny organisms and plant detritus, and will also scrape algae and detritus off of rocks and sediments. They are preyed on by other aquatic insects, shore/wading birds, and sometimes fish. Their life span ranges from .5-6 months, depending upon how long their vernal pool remains filled. They only live in inland, non-flowing, temporary, fresh (non-marine) water. When they die or their pond dries up, they leave behind thousands of embryonated eggs, or cysts, that will remain dormant until the pond refills. These cysts can remain dormant for decades! WOW!!! Apparently these fairy shrimp used to be more widespread, but as human developments filled in wetlands and vernal pools their numbers have declined. How lucky to see these fascinating crustaceans once again!
Clockwise from left:
Sierra Gartersnake - Dragonfly/Damselfly exuvia - Mountain Gartersnake
Southern Long-toed Salamander larva - Predaceous Water Beetle adult & larva
Thamnophis couchii - species unknown - Thamnophis elegans elegans
Ambystoma macrodactylum sigillatum - Acilius abbreviatus
I visited several ponds in the area of the Fairy Shrimp vernal pool, and saw lots of other aquatic critters! Years ago we named one of the ponds "Thousand Tadpole Pond", because there were so many tadpoles there. When I visited it this year there were hardly any tadpoles, but I saw three Sierra Gartersnakes and one Mountain Gartersnake in the pond! One of them was quite large! These snakes will readily eat tadpoles and frogs, and are probably why the tadpole population is so low. I also saw Predaceous Water Beetle adults and their larva. Both the adults and larva of this beetle feed on tadpoles as well! Perhaps these tadpole predators will eat up all their prey and have to move on. Then, hopefully the few frogs or tadpoles that haven't been eaten will re-populate the pond!
On the stems of the reeds that bordered another pond, I came across the exuvia of dragonfly and damselfly naiads! These naiads can spend one to several years in their aquatic stage, before they crawl out of the pond and emerge as adults from their exuvia. Watching an adult dragonfly emerge is an amazing event, and can take 1-3
hours from start to finish!
On another day, we revisited Lost Lake, which is really a small pond. Last year we saw several hundred Long-toed Salamander larvae in the pond. This time I was hoping to find some adults that are supposed to be dark blue with yellow splotches. I looked and looked around the whole lake, under logs, duff, and dead branches on the ground, but didn't find a single adult. Rats! I did see lots of tadpoles and some smallish salamander larvae in the pond. Apparently these adult salamanders are rarely seen except in the very early Spring, during their mating season. I'll have to try again next Spring!
Pacific Tree/Chorus Frog tadpole - Pseudacris regilla
I identified this tadpole by looking at the photos of tadpoles at californiaherps.com.
It is an excellent website full of information and photos. Check it out!
Spotted Sandpiper - Actitis macularia
More Lakes Basin Birds!
While I was photographing the Fairy Shrimp, this Spotted Sandpiper was flying around, landing nearby, and constantly giving an alarm call. It must have had a nest nearby. I didn't see the nest. However, I carefully watched where I stepped, because they build their nests on the ground. They are so beautiful with their spotted breasts!
This week, I saw a few different birds in the Lakes Basin than I usually see. Most notably the Townsend's Solitaire adult and juvenile!
Common Raven (adult) - Pine Siskin? (female) - Cassin's Finch (male)
Corvus corax - Spinus pinus?- Haemorhous cassinii
Townsend's Solitaire (adult & juvenile) - Myadestes townsendi
The Townsend's Solitaire nests on the ground beneath rocks, logs, or other objects that provide a sheltering overhang. Solitaire nests are frequently plundered by predators such as Ground Squirrels, Chickaree/Douglas Squirrels, and skunks. To overcome the negative impact of nest predation, solitaires have a long nesting season, beginning early in the summer, and have the ability to renest multiple times in a season. Fledglings remain food dependent upon parents for approximately two weeks after they leave the nest. In the summer, their diet consists of insects, fruit and berries. The fledgling was so camouflaged, that I only saw it when it moved! What a beautiful spotted youngster!
Mountain Bluebird (male) - Western Tanagaer (male) - Green-tailed Towhee (adult)
Stalia currucoides - Piranga ludoviciana - Pipilo chlorurus
Bufflehead (female with 5 ducklings) - Bucephala albeola
Song Sparrow (adult) - Dark-eyed Junco (male) - Olive-sided Flycatcher (adult)
Melospiza melodia - Junco hyemalis - Contopus cooperi
Sierran primrose - Primula suffrutescens
More Lakes Basin Wildflowers!
This week we hiked to a high mountain slope to see if the Sierran primroses were in bloom. To our delight there were 100's of them showing their gorgeous magenta and yellow blossoms! I just love it when you see familiar wild friends again! They bloom in the same area every year, but we're never sure exactly when. This particular group grows on a steep, damp, rocky slope that is covered in Lady Ferns and wild grasses. It was also just below one of the last remaining snowbanks in the Lakes Basin! What looks like white clouds and blue sky in the photo above, is actually a snowbank with blue shadows! Such beauty!
The meadows are in profuse bloom with 100's of Leopard Lilies, Corn Lilies, Monkshood, Shooting Stars, Bog Asphodel, and much, much more. It is incredibly beautiful once again!
California corn lily - California bog asphodel
Veratrum californicum - Narthecium californicum
Leopard Lily - Monkshood
Lilium pardalinum - Aconitum columbianum
Alpine shooting star - Primula tetranda
Sierra Buttes 7/16/20
Are the Bullock's Orioles still around?
Where are the foxes, deer, and bears?
What's happening on the river?
Check back next week for the answers to these questions and more!
Unfortunately you can no longer sign up to get my blog emailed to you.
Something changed at Blogspot.com. Oh well...
Your questions and comments are greatly appreciated!
Please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment